I've cancelled my Crown Princess cruise

[Malleykatt]

We have been back two weeks from our med cruise on Crown Princess. Would we do it again.....YES! Our family of 4 had a great time ..( 2 teenage boys 17 &13) . Our cabin though small as they all seem unless mini or suites was of a good standard and well looked after . Yes a little rust on our balcony but hey we are at sea it happens. Food is always a matter of opinion. We never had a bad meal the whole time although the menu in the main dining room didn't always invite so we had the buffet , plenty of choice and enjoyed by all. We picked anytime dine and as a family of 4 chose to share a table which we enjoyed with our fellow travellers. ( Hi to Mediterraneanhoneymoon who we shared with one evening).

Sure we all compare previous trip against each other ...that's the mistake you make. Each line has a sell feature no one could have it all and if they did think of the price. People moan about the silliest things and we heard a few. However most of our fellow diners would do it all again tomorrow...... New brochure on coffee table now to drop a few hints to hubby...

For those due to travel kick back relax end enjoy.

[Britcruzer15]

We have been back two weeks from our med cruise on Crown Princess. Would we do it again.....YES! Our family of 4 had a great time ..( 2 teenage boys 17 &13) . Our cabin though small as they all seem unless mini or suites was of a good standard and well looked after . Yes a little rust on our balcony but hey we are at sea it happens. Food is always a matter of opinion. We never had a bad meal the whole time although the menu in the main dining room didn't always invite so we had the buffet , plenty of choice and enjoyed by all. We picked anytime dine and as a family of 4 chose to share a table which we enjoyed with our fellow travellers. ( Hi to Mediterraneanhoneymoon who we shared with one evening).

Sure we all compare previous trip against each other ...that's the mistake you make. Each line has a sell feature no one could have it all and if they did think of the price. People moan about the silliest things and we heard a few. However most of our fellow diners would do it all again tomorrow...... New brochure on coffee table now to drop a few hints to hubby...

For those due to travel kick back relax end enjoy.

 

We were on the same cruise, our first with Princess, no problem with the Crown at all. and we had a great time. Dont see what all the fuss is about with the negativity.

[flamomo]

FWIW, we just got off a wonderful 14 day cruise on the Crown last week. Main dining room menu and service was among the best we've had. Headwaiters were always checking with guests. Had planned to try a burger at Salty Dog, but couldn't find a reason to skip MDR. Shows mostly good to very good. Vines was a frequent call and service was very friendly and excellent.

Cabin steward was also friendly, helpful and on top of his game.

Guest services were friendly.

Just an alternate opinion for those that are wondering about the Crown. Would not hesitate.

 

 

Sounds like a typical description of a Princess cruise!! Thanks for injecting a positive note into what seems to have become a chew-up and spit-out Princess thread.

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My past cruises on the Crown, as well as the other ships in the Princess fleet, were everything I hoped and expected they would be, and I was sad when it was time to disembark every single time. I'm sure I will feel the same sadness at the end of my next 2 already booked Princess cruises. I'm not saying Princess is perfect in every way, but so far, after 30+ cruises with them, nothing is negative enough to drive me to try another cruise line.

[mamasu]

DH and I have soured on the Princess brand. We've notice over the last couple of years that the Princess product has gone downhill. We've cruised Princess 20+ times. We used to book suites the last few years I was working but I retired early so we had booked a mini on the Crown in December. We don't care for the MDR because it takes too long. We planned on using the buffet and what I've heard lately doesn't sound good. The same food being served over and over again. Then I heard about what they did to the buffet on the Caribbean Princess on the last refurbishment and couldn't believe it. Hope this isn't a new trend. Peanut Butter and Jelly station and breakfast for dinner. You have got to be kidding me!

 

I suspect that this decline comes on the heels of the $40 million dollar judgement. Somebody has to pay for it and it's the loyal Princess passengers that will bear the brunt.

 

I'm not saying we are totally done with Princess but will wait and see if they clean up there act in the future.

 

Giving NCL a try. Have a transatlantic booked for next April. I know NCL is not considered a premium line but Princess isn't anymore either in our opinion.

 

I wouldn't believe everything you read. Some people are just habitual liers or extremely negative.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

We used to sail Princess fairly often. We thought it was a small step up from RCI which used to be our cruise line of choice. But after a cruise on the Sapphire was pretty disappointing, we stepped up to Celebrity which we love. However, we just booked a cruise on the Regal over New Years and I admit I am hesitant about going, especially because we have 2 cruises booked on Oceania right before the Regal cruise. 2 concerns I have with Princess are the food and formal nights. Princess seems to be the last cruise line to still do formal nights and I'm not sure why. Oceania is country club casual everywhere and Celebrity is now Evening Chic. Of course if you want to dress up you can, but it's your choice and no one minds if you do or don't. And as everyone on these boards says, you can always eat in the buffet, but on Princess their buffet food is not the best and the food in the MDR on formal nights is usually good so who wants to miss that. I agree with the OP, while I like peanut butter and jelly, who wants to eat that on a cruise?

you will be pleasantly surprised by the buffet on Regal. We didn't know buffets on different Princess ships were so different, so we were somewhat unpleasantly surprised because we sailed on Caribbean AFTER Regal.... Regal has a spectacular buffet. Caribbean Princess has a regular one - it's not bad, but it's not as extensive and huge as on Regal.

 

We don't dress up for formal nights on any cruise. The best I do is business casual which is pants and a nice blouse. Hubby wears slacks and a button up shirt.

 

P.S. We didn't notice PBJ during the evening buffet on Caribbean. Most of the dishes were the same as MDR, but not all. I loved the smoked cold cuts section during every meal.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Families, with older children? NO... find the big cool ships with lots of things for the teens. On Princess they are sitting in groups on the stairwells or crammed into the hot tubs... nothing for them to do. With younger children? Maybe,

Princess, unfortunately, truly lacks any venues that you could enjoy with younger kids.

MUTS and pool were the only things to do on a cruise (caribbean princess) with our 5 year old. He won't do kid's club, so on rainy days (which were all 4 sea days on our last cruise) there was absolutely nothing to do besides watching moving in your cabin. I saw a cool jungle gym playground on cruise photos and thought we could use it to burn off some 5 yo energy, but it turned out to be inside the kid's club for 8-12 year old kids. Needless to say, 12 year old kids are not interested in a playground like that. I don't know what Princess personnel was thinking. The room for 4-7 yo kids didn't have any kind of a playground.

RC, on the other had, had plenty to do inside on a rainy day.

But the food is better on Regal Princess.

[mkazmer]

Had to read this thread when I saw the title as we are sailing on the Crown in November for a 5 day get-away and really looking forward to it as we were on the Crown in 2009. We began cruising in the mid 80's together when we married - both of us had cruised a bit in the 70's - a different cruising world then for sure. No balconies, assigned tables, formal nights where everyone pretty much dressed or they weren't allowed in the dining room and very few children sailing. We have cruised with many different lines and enjoyed them all (except Carnival - only one cruise - Paradise - was terrible). Over the years Princess and Celebrity have stood out for us and we are Elite on both lines. We love the layout of the Grand class ships and the Regal as well - my husband's mobility has now been impacted so the Grand class Princess ships "live" the best for the way we like to cruise. The Piazza is our center inside the ship and the dining rooms are easy to access from there - we don't eat in the buffet since he really can't stand in lines like that. We enjoy the fact that on the Grand class ships the Promenade deck runs all the way around the ship and there are chairs out there as well. The Regal does not have this feature but we have cruised on her 3 times and enjoyed the experience. We don't fly anymore and we live 90 minutes from the ports so we cruise the Caribbean and even though we have been to the islands many times we still enjoy the experience - we don't sail during school break vacation times or the summer - and yes, we love kids - have 10 grandchildren - but don't enjoy ships overrun with them during vacation time. We used to book guarantee cabins - today location is more important and we like an outside cabin now. Again on the Regal there are no "outside" cabins - you jump from inside to balconies which for us are a waste of money. On Celebrity we prefer the Millennium class ships - do not like the S class at all - we loved the Century class when they were sailing. We take full advantage of the "perks" we receive with Elite status and appreciate them. For us now, a cruise is a great get away from everyday life - we enjoy meeting new people, eating good food and just being on the ship and at sea. We will continue to sail Princess as long as we are able.

 

For children with families it seems to me that RCCL and Disney are good choices - the last NCL ship we sailed was the Norway - a grand old ship in her day. We like to go 3-4 times a year so not willing to pay for Oceania or other premium lines - to us cruising is a time to be "unplugged" from the world, enjoy good books and conversation and food and visit the islands. We have always had superior service with both Celebrity and Princess - and we firmly believe that a cruise is what one makes of it - we have had "glitches" over the years and they have always been resolved. We hope to continue to cruise for a good long time.

Edited August 26, 2017 by mkazmer
left out things